Media from mainland and Taiwan embark on exchange tour in Hubei

Media professionals from both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are seizing opportunities to explore the real mainland and share stories of young people from Taiwan living there.

On Monday, an eight-day interview trip, attended by media from both sides, was launched in Central China's Hubei province. The tour aims to help media professionals better understand the changes happening in Hubei, enabling them to convey a more accurate picture of the mainland to people in Taiwan.

A total of 28 participants from 20 news media outlets and self-media representatives took part in activities in Wuhan and Huangshi. The tour showcased Hubei's rich historical and cultural heritage, modern high-tech enterprises, and stories of young Taiwan people living there.

At the Yifu Innovation Center at Hubei Polytechnic University, Lee Lien-chieh, a Taiwan professor working at the university, expressed his hope that his family and friends could travel to the mainland and experience life there firsthand.

Shih Chun-yao, also from Taiwan, a former badminton coach and now an associate professor at the university, said, "People get along well with each other in Hubei. I hope young people in Taiwan could come to the mainland more. Whether for traveling or starting their own business, they first need to come here to see what's going on and what life here is like."

After working in Taiwan and Fujian for nearly 20 years, Wang Chien-pang joined the university in Hubei in 2021. "I burst into tears when I saw the statue of Sun Yat-sen in Hubei and the Yangtze River, which I had only seen in textbooks before," he said. "People-to-people exchange really needs to be fostered, and young people in Taiwan could experience different lifestyles under the same Chinese cultural root."

In recent years, several measures have been introduced to encourage and support employment and business start-ups in Hubei, as well as to deepen cross-Strait integrated development.

More than 3,000 Taiwan-funded businesses are registered in the province, about 1,000 Taiwan students study at universities in Hubei, and over 1,200 young Taiwan individuals have come to Hubei for internships, employment, and entrepreneurship opportunities, according to local authorities.

Li Ren contributed to this story.